It's
not yet October and I feel like I've been plowed under and snowed over by 6th grade.
It's been awhile since we've home schooled and I forgot how all
consuming it is. It's so much more fun to be the field trip
coordinator than the main teacher. I keep reminding myself how
rewarding teaching is, but not feeling it yet. And truly, I see
myself as more of a facilitator. Is that me shirking responsibility
again? I'm acutely aware that if we hold her back from her potential
for learning it will be my fault alone. She is raring to go and ready
to learn. She's an easy, generally early riser, and usually has a
book in hand by 8 a.m., though sometimes we have to redirect from
Calvin and Hobbes. She's loving Latin, while I have yet to dust off
the text book.
I
did finally get those books ordered, but made the mistake of having
Amazon “bundle them”, so we wait. School has been adjusted
already and this week is school a bit lite with LONG play practices at
night. She has FLL robotics; we are so excited about our
focus on architecture this year. She also has Latin and IEW once a
week and it's great someone else is teaching; she stays motivated
to get the work done. She wrote about Robert Grosseteste this week. Who knew?
We
are working through math while at the same time, trying to regroup.
She's doing a bit more online at Khan Academy right now, though I
believe in the value of paper seat work, while I assess a few
different textbooks. We registered for MATHCOUNTS.
Spelling?
What's spelling? We have been consistent with Grammar, but reviewing
world civilizations has been BORING. We are no longer at the builds
models stage and make fun hand puppets, so how does one review the
ancients in meaningful ways when you don't have a week to build a
small scale replica of a pyramid or city walled in by watery
moats/ponds to collect water? Though, we get the water/moat thing this week with the rain
having arrived. I'm going quiz her on the ancients next week and see
where we need to bulk up on our review before moving on to other
subject matter. I'm torn between the Middle Ages to early Modern Times which is what Veritas studies and American History, Modern Americas, and Modern Times which is the focus of What Your 6th Grader
Needs to Know. We are working through plate tectonics and also
not having much fun, but we have objectives and we are working
through them. She keeps reminding me she wants to blow stuff up. She
wants to mix iron and nickel and make a molten core. Lovely. Anyone
have ideas of where a 6th grader can blow stuff up for science? They
have watched to many videos on the University of Nottingham Periodic Table site. Unfortunately, our own doing, but I did catch her reading
Extreme Biology today. Maybe we can just focus on pond bugs
asap without the bugs. Like I said, I have decided to test early this
year to see where we need to focus most and see what she has a good
handle on and where we can move on. It feels like we are flying by the seat of our pants, but there's a plan people. Really. Still working to find it, but He promises to put us on the path!
Robinhood
is making an appearance in town this week. No, not the world
premiere we saw last year at OSF, but none-the-less Robinhood.
Sister is one of the merry band and brother is a forester and the
play shall go on. Ready or not, here we come.
I
fall into bed by 9:45 each night. Well, except tonight. Here's to
that 6 a.m. casting call. Anyone for life unleashed early in the morning? Not without coffee, thank you.
The
rain has come and now I must mow the summer's weeds and burn piles
of left over limbs from a bunch of woods work we had done at the
house. Maybe we can light stuff on fire this weekend?
We
are praying and pondering Safe Families. We are pondering and
praying what kind of future car we may need to carry possible littles.
Humbly burying my head in the sand and proceeding naively and with
faith God will guide the path. This vision is definitely bigger than
us. It will burst our bubble. If we do this. If He calls. If we hear.
If we get brave. Pray with us? Pray for us?
Brother
too, is busy with school. He's not quite the same chipper early
riser, but he's yet to have a bad day at school. He loves school.
He loves soccer. He wasn't so sure about Robinhood. He shed tears
about missing soccer when play practice arrived this week, even
though I had cleared this with him ahead of time and he was
originally excited. But Monday arrived and he realized he was going
to miss games and practices with his buddies and he was checking back
tears and still a few fell. He went to the audition intending to do
his worst, “so I won't get a part in the play and can play
soccer.” He still got cast as a forester. (It runs in the
family.) AND THEN, he came home shedding tears that he didn't get
Robinhood. How does a parent say, “I'm sure
you did your best at the audition,” while sharing, “well,
I thought you said you were going to do your worst so you could play
soccer Saturday instead?” What a catch-22. He's getting over
it, but he's tired tonight. He's enjoying the chance to put his
extensive play acting to use, i.e., various Calvin and Hobbes
situations to try on his play mates when
he has a chance to improvise.
Did
I tell you he put a water balloon under the toilet seat recently? He
didn't get me, but got J good. They have a new club, he and she. They
call it POP: Pranks on Parents.
And the notebook is full of pranks to prepare and execute. And
summaries about how actual events took place and went down.
Did
I mention I'm tired of Calvin and Hobbes? Though I must say the other
day, when I read the one where Calvin burps enormously at the table
and his mother says, “WHAT DO YOU SAY?”
and he Calvin says, “A BARGE COMING THROUGH!” I
laughed. Thank you, Bill Watterson for a laugh when I want to dislike
you so much. Some days I'm sure the sass is entirely your fault.
Brother
is pondering talking to God ALOT right now and wondering if he is
worthy. I am so tempted to talk him through these moments with mom talk when what I
need to do most is pull out the WORD and read with him. Tonight, we
talked and prayed and read Mathew 5, “those who hunger and
thirst for God's righteousness shall be filled.” He wants to know what hearing
the voice of God is like. He's not sure if he's hearing. He's not
sure if he's worthy. Oh, the questions we ask, so young, but aren't
they just hard wired into us? The searching for truth, and grace, and
love to wrap ourselves in? I hear his very big heart wanting to
understand God and yet trying to wrap his mind around something that any one of us can just barely contain and yet understand and sometimes
it's not for us to know. Can our human minds really comprehend the
vastness of God's love when we most need it? I believe so, but it
requires a great stillness. It requires a great hunger. We don't like
to be hungry, thirsty, or still. The questions are big, but not for
God. But sometimes it's not even the questions we are asking, it's
the love we are seeking. We prayed and talked and prayed some more
and chose to plant some feet in faith that those who knock on the door shall
be answered, and that perfect love casts out fear, and
then he fell asleep. Rest.
The
Rover is in the shop. This Rover Girl dislikes her rental intensely,
all while reminding herself to be thankful for something to steer her
through life. It's brand new. It smells. It has zero visibility, but
it's much faster. Much faster is not better. Rover Girl
needs to go slower, so she can see the hawks and doves on her drive. Thankful for very old wheels back, come Friday.
As
for the house, the mess has caught up with me, and I cannot catch up
with it. The piles seem to renew each day with people in the house
busy learning and mucking things up!
Then
there's this new rain thing after months of dry. During September,
the pets have become simply pets. Sister keeps reminding me to spend
time with the dog. I booked him a hair cut, does that count? Now, I
find two sets of paw prints and 8 feet to wipe and mud in the garage,
which invariably comes in the house. Two pets and eight feet, that's
enough. But, then Jack brought home a shrew this morning. Then there
were 12 muddy feet to deal with. Lovely. Just lovely. Then the added guilt
of not giving the poor shrew a proper burial weighed on me today and
knowing if kids knew they would be disappointed in you.
We have
escaped for a few hikes, but I've forgotten my camera for coloring
catching. Tonight, while the kids are at play practice, I escaped to
my least favorite mall, keeping in mind, that I don't like malls,
only to find that the Macy's discount store had closed. Boo. So I
went to the coffee shop to write. At least that's something. I
reworked a Land Rover article vetoed by mon amore. Maybe my
grim editor will like the new one.
But
maybe, I re-found the written word within tonight. I've been reminded
that words come with prayer and time for creativity. Alone. With God. One writes
from reservoirs not emptiness. I only write from a place of fullness
and when the brain is on drain and the body is tired few words come.
I need to rest, renew, and re-look at the world with new wonder.
Working on it. Slowly. One day at a time. Sometimes, being snowed in helps you do
that.
(And
no, I didn't edit this one. At all. We'll survive the mess. We
shall.)
